Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/07

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica-Users List Digest V2 #150
From: "Hans Pahlen" <hans@komvux.skola.mark.se>
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 18:18:12 +0100

Christian,
In a way, I regard this list as family, i.e. I don't feel too comfortable
defending the Leica brand here, of all places.
I do it often enough elsewhere, as lots of people seem to think that Leica
users are strange creatures in the age of electronics, automation and
plastics.

The macho thing for a press photographer is to cover wars and sports, of
course using the latest and most advanced cameras. We see them on the TV
almost every night.
The photographic magazines keep telling us about the latest technologically
most advanced equipment, and very little about making pictures.

Over the years, I have felt strong desires to use both macho gear and the
latest technology. However, after a while, I have always gone back to my
manual M:s, simply because they deliver the best photographs and that they
suit my own style of photography.

My reason for using Nikon SLR:s is above all economical. I cannot afford two
new Leica systems. I have favoured Nikons for many years, because it is very
easy to find used gear, and because the latest bodies are able to use almost
30 years old lenses. I think that the F2, F3, F4, FM and FE bodies are great
cameras, and after trying out the F5, I have discovered that I could as well
be using one of these, as I am not interested in action, sports or wildlife.
AF has one great advantage for me, and that is for portraits. I can easily
shift focus from eye to nose to eyebrew, within a second. I cannot do that
with manual focusing.
However, I have often toyed with the idea of switching from Nikons to an old
R3/R4s and lenses, because of the unique Leica lens quality.
/Hans